March 31, 2009
Wine Market Struggles to Adjust in New Era
By DAVID JOLLY
What is a wine worth?
As elite critics and merchants from around the globe descend on the city of Bordeaux this week to sample the 2008 vintage of the world.s finest wines, that question will dog them.
The ultimate connoisseurs have gathered every spring since the early 1970s for the tastings, known as the .campagne primeur,. or futures campaign. But never have they done it in the middle of so deep a recession, after so frothy a market. For that reason, this week.s tastings are likely to be an unusually sober affair.
Just as the go-go years of Wall Street.s inflated salaries and Main Street.s cheap cash created a bubble in real estate, stocks and other assets, they produced a wine bubble too.
The en primeur, or wine futures, system works to the advantage of the wine-producing châaux, providing them with cash for part of their product while it is still in the barrel; investors and consumers get the chance to buy wine at prices that have the potential to rise substantially.
Prices for futures had long varied widely according to the quality of the vintage. But that seemed to change after an exceptional 2005 sent prices spiraling upward. The vintages of 2006 and 2007 were merely average, but prices did not fall, kept aloft by a surplus of nouveau riche big spenders.
Now many of the speculators who drove prices to extraordinary levels have disappeared, or turned from buyers to sellers as they try to raise cash to cover their overleveraged bets. And the bankers and traders who thought nothing of blowing hundreds of dollars on a bottle are now worrying about losing their bonuses, if not their jobs.
As a result, some overseas buyers have decided to skip the tastings this year, complaining that top châaux will not accept that in a market this weak, prices must fall. Some of the smaller merchants whose livelihoods depend on selling the wine, including some of the Bordeaux middlemen known as néciants, are said to be at risk of failing.
Stephen J. Browett, director of Farr Vintners, an up-market British wine merchant, said he would not even be sending a team to Bordeaux this week because he did not expect to be able to sell the new wine at a profit, unless the wineries are prepared to accept substantial price cuts.
.I wouldn.t call it a boycott, precisely,. he said, .but unless they give us an indication that they.re going to put the price down, there.s not much point in us sending our team down for a week..
Simon Staples, director of fine wine sales at Berry Bros. & Rudd in Hampshire, England, said the gap between the pricing expectations held by wine merchants and the châaux over what is expected to be a decent, though not great, vintage was the widest he had seen in two decades.
The top châaux are hoping to cut prices by 15 percent from the 2007 en primeur to show good faith, he added, .but cutting the price by 50 percent to 60 percent is the only way it.s going to work..
The problem has been particularly acute for British wine merchants because the pound has fallen precipitously against the euro, and British buyers can account for up to a third of the market. Mr. Staples said the pound had fallen about 15 percent against the euro in the last 12 months, so .even a 15 percent price cut will only get us back to last year.s level,. he said.
Prices for the best wines from around the world rose in tandem with the financial bubble, with both institutional fund managers and home-based Internet traders getting into the act. The London International Vintners Exchange.s Liv-ex 100 index, which tracks trading in 100 fine wines, mostly red Bordeaux, nearly tripled in dollar terms between February 2005 and August 2008. The index has lost about 43 percent of its value since then.
Mr. Staples pointed to the example of Châau-Lafite Rothschild, a first-growth Bordeaux, which soared from £675, or $955, for a 12-bottle case in the 2002 futures to £4,000 a case for 2005 . which he called .the best vintage I.ve ever tasted.. But despite merely average years subsequently, the price only fell back to £3,500 in 2006 and £2,800 in 2007. He estimated it cost the châau .10, or $13, to make a bottle of the wine.
Both Christie.s and Sotheby.s, the auction houses, say sales continue to be strong at their auctions, which typically feature excellent bottles in their primes.
And people have not cut back on their overall wine consumption, according to Lulie Halstead, chief executive of the research and consulting firm Wine Intelligence. .But what we are seeing is that people are trading down a bit in price,. she said, spending less at restaurants while occasionally splurging more for the wine they serve at home.
Data from Wine Australia, an industry marketing group, supports that analysis. Australian wine exports declined 5 percent in volume terms in the 12 months through the end of February, but the value of those exports fell 16 percent, suggesting cheaper wines are making up more of the mix.
Predictions based on the weather during last year.s growing season suggest that the 2008 Bordeaux will rank as average-to-pretty-good. The châaux are expected to release their prices for the new vintage by the end of June, based in large part on the buzz from this week.s reviews. Mr. Staples said that if the top châaux decided the market would not support their price, they have sufficient cash to simply keep the 2008 vintage off the market, holding it for as long as 10 years, if necessary, when it would be ready to sell to retailers and restaurants. He said he was optimistic, though, that negotiations would succeed.
There is concern, however, for the many smaller Bordeaux producers, who need the liquidity the futures sales bring. Wine merchants who depend on en primeur sales and the néciants . who act as middlemen between the châaux and the wider market . could be especially hard hit. The American wine critic, Robert Parker, noted as much in November, predicting on his blog that there would be .plenty of casualties..
In an e-mailed message last week, he sounded similarly bearish. .In terms of wine prices, even the luxury end are soft, but have not fallen as much as real estate, art, and stock,. Mr. Parker said. .However, buying of top wines has slowed considerably, and what unfolds over the next six months will push prices lower, I suspect..
David Sokolin, a fine wine dealer in Bridgehampton, New York, notes another potential pitfall. .If the producers cut prices sufficiently for the 2008 en primeur to move their product, they could undermine the prices of the 2007 vintage,. he said. That would hurt merchants and investors holding the back vintage, because their stocks of those wines would lose value. All of the first-growth, or highest ranked, producers . Châau Lafite Rothschild, Châau Margaux, Châau Latour, Châau Haut-Brion and Châau Mouton-Rothschild . declined interview requests, citing the press of business before the start of the tastings.
But Jean-Guillaume Prats, director of Châau Cos d.Estournel, a Bordeaux second growth, acknowledged that prices have come down over the past six months. .That.s true of every fine wine around the world,. he said, .and it.s also true for many luxury items..
Mr. Prats hinted that the producers would seek common ground with merchants. .Speculation isn.t in anyone.s mind at the moment, in any area,. he added. .It.s good that the market is going back to fundamentals..
Francis Cruse, director of the Union des Maisons de Bordeaux, the néciants. union, blamed the madness spurred by the excellent 2005 vintage.
.Prices need to return to the level where people who like to drink good wines can afford them,. he said.
But Angéque de Lencquesaing, one of the founders of iDealwine, an online auction site in Paris, said it was hard for producers to accept lower prices. .In England and other countries people have a view of wine as a financial product that can go up or down in value,. she said. .In France, wine is sacred..
--
------------------------------
* Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* University of Minnesota, mobile : 651/645-0753 *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
FYI/FYE
April 2009
WINES OF THE TIMES
If It.s Spring, It Must Be Riesling
By ERIC ASIMOV
IF you.ve already heard me sing the song of German riesling in the springtime, you.ll have to forgive me. But it.s a song that bears repeating . at least annually . because it simply is a perfect seasonal melody in almost all of its manifestations.
What do I mean by that? Well, no wine is more versatile than German riesling. It doesn.t just excel as a sweet wine and a dry wine, it excels at many different degrees of sweetness and dryness. And at each stop on the spectrum from dry to sweet, you have a wine of a different character, with different qualities, filling different needs and offering different pleasures. That.s why I can write about German rieslings every spring and never feel as if I.m repeating myself (at least, not to my ears).
Why, last year I wrote about dry German rieslings. The truth is, even though many people assume all German rieslings are sweet, most of the rieslings that people drink in Germany are dry. The best of these are exceptionally delicious.
The year before, I wrote about auslese rieslings, highly misunderstood wines that have a lot of residual sugar but are so well balanced that they do wonderfully at the table. Before that it was kabinett rieslings, the delicate, almost fragile wines that have always epitomized spring with their almost hesitant bit of sweetness, peeking through like a new bud.
Our subject this year is späese, perhaps the most appealing expression of German riesling, except for the others I.ve mentioned. The term späese (pronounced SHPATE-lay-zuh) refers to the degree of ripeness at which the grapes are harvested. In the German system of ripeness classification, the grapes with the least amount of sugar are destined for kabinett wines. Then comes späese, and then the riper auslese, beerenauslese, trockenbeerenauslese and eiswein.
Yes indeed, they are a mouthful. What.s more, these terms, particularly späese, don.t always tell you how a wine will actually taste because they describe the grapes before fermentation. It.s up to the winemaker to decide whether to stop fermentation early on, leaving a considerable amount of residual sugar, or to ferment the wine longer, until it is completely dry. For that reason, German wine labels may offer an additional designation indicating that a späese is almost dry (späese halbtrocken) or that it is bone dry (späese trocken).
To make matters even more complicated, some producers of dry riesling opt out of these ripeness designations and use a completely different nomenclature for their wines. That.s the beauty of the German system: You keep banging your head against a wall of terminology, and just at the point it begins to really hurt you figure it all out.
The wine panel was feeling no pain recently when we tasted 25 späese rieslings from the 2007 vintage. We focused on späeses in their most familiar guise for Americans, that is, wines with a fair amount of residual sugar. For the tasting Florence Fabricant and I were joined by Fred Dexheimer, a wine consultant, and Laura Maniec, director of wine and spirits for B. R. Guest Restaurants.
While I said that these wines had a lot of residual sugar, they are not exactly sweet wines. Riesling has a naturally high acidity to it, which gives the wines a zesty liveliness that balances the sweetness, leaving the wine refreshing and invigorating.
The best of these wines are not merely balanced but thrillingly so, like a teeter-totter on the point of a skyscraper. Our No. 1 wine, the Bockenauer Felseneck from Schär-Fröch in Nahe, was supremely delicate, combining a feather lightness more typical of the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer region with a wonderful richness of flavor.
The Mosel is probably the German region most familiar to Americans. Of the 25 bottles we tasted, 18 were from the Mosel, 4 from Nahe and one each from the Rheingau and Rheinhessen. Our No. 2 wine, the Üziger Wüten from Joh. Jos. Christoffel Erben, epitomized the finesse and nuance typical of the Mosel. It was our best value at $29.
By contrast, our No. 3 wine, the Bernkasteler Doctor from Wegeler, was the most expensive bottle by far at $90. It is a beautiful wine, but the painfully high price is for the famous Doctor vineyard.
Despite all of these wonderful things about German riesling, and despite the fact that Americans are drinking more riesling than ever before, many people remain confused about German rieslings. Nonetheless, one thing is invariably true with wines like these späeses.
.One thing you do know, which is really bankable, is you.re not going to get high alcohol and you.re not going to get oak,. Laura said. Indeed, none of these wines were above 9.5 percent alcohol, and most were 8 percent and under. Did somebody say lunch?
The wines on the whole were so good that, in addition to the producers on our list, I.d also recommend Selbach-Oster, St. Urbans-Hof, A. J. Adam and Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt.
Germany has been enjoying some good vintages in recent years, and 2007 seems to have been extremely kind to späeses. Most of the wines we liked best are deliciously vivacious right now, with one proviso that I.ll get to in a moment. But very soon, if these wines behave as German rieslings typically do, they will enter a kind of neutral, silent period only to emerge in five to seven years as beautifully refined wines. Yes, it.s a pain to wait, but the rewards can be tremendous.
That proviso? Well, some German producers use a lot of sulfur dioxide as a preservative, which can make a young wine unpleasant. One of my favorite Mosel producers, Joh. Jos. Prü notorious for this. Indeed, we had two Prütleses in our blind tasting. In my notes, I called both of these sulfur bombs. But in my experience with Prü years from now these wines will both be gorgeous.
Tasting Report: Following the Umlauts
Schär-Fröch Nahe Bockenauer Felseneck Späese 2007 $40 *** 1/2
Lacy, delicate and almost fragile, with beautiful aromas and flavors of flowers, ginger and minerals. (Importer: Rudi Wiest/Cellars International, San Marcos, Calif.)
BEST VALUE
Joh. Jos. Christoffel Erben Mosel-Saar-Ruwer Üziger Wüten Späese 2007 $29 *** 1/2
Complex and nuanced with juicy peach, apricot and mineral flavors. (Terry Theise/Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, N.Y.)
Wegeler Mosel-Saar-Ruwer Bernkasteler Doctor Späese 2007 $90 ***
Delicate with lovely, lingering flavors of lime, spices and apricots. (Rudi Wiest/Cellars International)
Dr. Loosen Mosel-Saar-Ruwer Üziger Wüten Späese 2007 $31 ***
Well-balanced aromas and flavors of ripe fruit, citrus and slate. (Lauber Imports, Somerville, N.J.)
Schloss Lieser Mosel-Saar-Ruwer Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Späese 2007 $40 ***
Lacy Mosel fragility with citrus and mineral flavors. (Rudi Wiest/Cellars International)
Hexamer Nahe Meddersheimer Rheingrafenberg Späese 2007 $33 ***
More intense than delicate with peach, apricot and mineral flavors. (Terry Theise/Michael Skurnik Wines)
Fritz Haag Mosel-Saar-Ruwer Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Späese 2007 $38 ***
Knife-edge balance of sweet and zesty with flavors of peaches, apricots and minerals. (Rudi Wiest/Cellars International)
Josef Leitz Rheingau Rüimer Berg Roseneck Späese 2007 $40 ***
Gorgeous yet balanced flavors of voluptuous ripe fruit, spices, minerals and flowers. (Terry Theise/Michael Skurnik Wines)
Willi Schaefer Mosel-Saar-Ruwer Graacher Domprobst Späese 2007 $35 ** 1/2
Poised and balanced with spicy peach and mineral flavors. (Terry Theise/Michael Skurnik Wines)
Döoff Nahe Niederhäer Hermannshö Späese 2007 $68 ** 1/2 Rip
e and fleshy with persistent flavors of pears, herbs and minerals. (Terry Theise/Michael Skurnik Wines)
WHAT THE STARS MEAN:
Ratings, from zero to four stars, reflect the panel.s reaction to the wines, which were tasted with names and vintages concealed. The wines represent a selection generally available in good retail shops and restaurants and on the Internet. Prices are those paid in shops in the New York region.
Tasting coordinator: Bernard Kirsch
--
------------------------------
* Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* University of Minnesota, mobile : 651/645-0753 *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
A wee bit off topic, so sue me.
Op-Ed Contributor
Cynicism We Can Believe In
By SIMON CRITCHLEY
SOME 2,300 years after his death, Diogenes the Cynic dramatically interrupted a recent New York State Senate committee meeting. Wearing a long, white beard and carrying his trademark lamp in broad daylight, the ancient philosopher . who once described himself as .a Socrates gone mad. . claimed to be looking for an honest man in politics. Considering the never-ending allegations of financial corruption that flow from the sump of Albany, it.s no surprise that he was unsuccessful.
This resurrected Diogenes was, in fact, Randy Credico, a comedian who says he is considering challenging Senator Charles Schumer in the 2010 Democratic primary. Whatever boost Mr. Credico.s prank provides his campaign, it might also cause us to reflect a little on the meaning of cynicism . and how greatly we still need Diogenes.
Cynicism is actually not at all cynical in the modern sense of the word. It bears no real resemblance to that attitude of negativity and jaded scornfulness that sees the worst of intentions behind the apparent good motives of others.
True cynicism is not a debasement of others but a debasement of oneself . and in that purposeful self-debasement, a protest against corruption, luxury and insincerity. Diogenes, the story goes, was called a .downright dog,. and this so pleased him that the figure of a dog was carved in stone to mark his final resting place. From that epithet, kunikos (.dog-like.), cynicism was born.
Diogenes credited his teacher Antisthenes with introducing him to a life of poverty and happiness . of poverty as happiness. The cynic.s every word and action was dedicated to the belief that the path to individual freedom required absolute honesty and complete material austerity.
So Diogenes threw away his cup when he saw people drinking from their hands. He lived in a barrel, rolling in it over hot sand in the summer. He inured himself to cold by embracing statues blanketed with snow. He ate raw squid to avoid the trouble of cooking. He mocked the auctioneer while being sold into slavery.
When asked by Lysias the pharmacist if he believed in the gods, he replied, .How can I help believing in them when I see a god-forsaken wretch like you?. When he was asked what was the right time to marry, he said, .For a young man not yet, for an old man never at all.. When asked what was the most beautiful thing in the world, Diogenes replied, .Freedom of speech.. Sadly, it remains one of the most dangerous.
And when asked where he came from, this native of Sinope, in what is now Turkey, replied that he was a .citizen of the world,. or kosmopolites. If only today.s self-styled cosmopolitans drank water from their hands, hugged statues and lived in barrels, one might ponder. Truth be told, Diogenes. .cosmopolitanism. is much more of an anti-political stance than the sort of banal internationalism that people associate with the word today.
Cynicism is basically a moral protest against hypocrisy and cant in politics and excess and thoughtless self-indulgence in the conduct of life. In a world like ours, which is slowly trying to rouse itself from the dogmatic slumbers of boundless self-interest, corruption, lazy cronyism and greed, it is Diogenes. lamp that we need to light our path. Perhaps this recession will make cynics of us all.
Simon Critchley, the chairman of the philosophy department at the New School, is the author of .The Book of Dead Philosophers..
--
------------------------------
* Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* University of Minnesota, mobile : 651/645-0753 *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
>From Indiana-?
To view an online version of this email, click here.
The Wine Guy
Recipe Exchange
& Wine Review Society
April 1, 2009
?
Gallo Purchases First Growth Chateau Latour!
The entire wine world was shocked yesterday when it was announced that E. & J. Gallo Wineries had completed the purchase of the renowned? first growth Bordeaux estate, Chateau Latour.? Since December of 2008, it has been an open secret that the investment bank Lazard was offering the Latour estate for sale on behalf of Francois Pinault's Groupe Artemis.? The likely buyer was thought to be French wine, Mogul Bernard Magrez, but Gallo swooped in with an astonishing one billion dollar offer.? The deal utilizes financing provided by former Merrill Lynch CEO, John Thain, who seems to have included a provision?in the agreement that will allow him to move to France and live in seclusion on the estate.? It was also rumored that Gallo has contracted with Blackwater Security to protect Mr. Thain and the Latour property from any potential public backlash that might accompany news of the deal.? Eight black American SUV's, now parked at the property, seem to confirm that rumor.
This purchase should present a real challenge to the Gallo marketing department.? Usually forced to create a fresh history for acquired properties (witness their MacMurray Ranch and Marcelina brands), it will be interesting to see how they deal with a property that already has one.? It is obvious though, that the famous Gallo marketing teams have been hard at work, since the announcement was accompanied by the unveiling of two new Latour labels.? Latour Chardonnay and Merlot will be sourced from the same Gallo-owned properties in Southern France that produce Red Bicyclette and will carry the standard "Since 1670" label.? The wines should be available on grocery store shelves here in the US by May of this year. ? Asked if he thought that these ten dollar wines might dilute the credibility of the original Latour wines that retailed for well over $1,000.00 a bottle in the 2005 vintage, a Gallo spokesman replied "We have never met a problem our marketing department couldn't solve by creating a great story.? Besides, Latour produces 11,000 cases a year and the new division will produce 11 million.? Does it matter?"
Recipe Exchange
Last week, Linda found her copy of the Bethlehem Baptist Church Cookbook, given to her by her grandmother in 1976.? They were all recipes that bring back memories, but we decided that this Golden Beef Casserole best expressed the era.
Golden Beef Casserole
Bethlehem Baptist Church Cookbook
Ingredients?
1?lb. lean ground beef
1/4 cup onion -diced
1/4 cup green bell pepper - diced
3/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can green lima beans 12 oz
1 can whole kernel corn 12 oz?
1 cup cheddar cheese - shredded
?
Brown beef, onion and green pepper in a small amount of shortening.? Add remaining ingredients.? Spoon into a casserole dish. Bake for 40 minutes in a 350 degree oven.??
?
Wine Guy Reviews
More and more high-end Napa wineries are beginning to offer lower priced alternatives to their cult classics..? first there was Screaming Eagle and now we have the infinitely more affordable Screaming Sparrow!
?
Screaming Sparrow Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 Napa Valley, California?$25
We Bought a Bunch $19.99
What the Wine Critics Thought:?Wine Spectator?91 Points
Why chase?a cult wine that could cost up to a thousand dollars a bottle when you can enjoy its first cousin, Screaming Sparrow, for less than twenty bucks!??Screaming Eagle owners have licensed negociant Don Sebastiani?to?locate surplus Napa fruit to produce this second label to the mighty Screaming Eagle.??Call it quality by association, but I love this wine just knowing that it shares the same warehouse as Screaming Eagle.?J.L.?????
What We Thought:?Tasting this wine blind, we found it lean, stemmy and?almost undrinkable.? However, once we discovered that it was the second label for Screaming Eagle,we re-tasted and?found that?the ensuing few minutes had?rendered it rich, ripe, full-bodied and filled with classic Napa Cabernet character.
Using a technique licensed from Indiana's own Chateau Thomas winery, Silver Oak is now offering this "sugar free" sweet version of its Alexander Valley Cabernet using the no calorie sweetener Zerose.? Even adopting the?same slogan as Chateau Thomas Slender brand, "No sugar,?no carbs, no fats, no aftertaste, NO KIDDING!" it's obvious that they are after a whole new customer.??
Silver Oak Light Cabernet Sauvignon 2003?Alexander Valley, California?$65
What the Wine Critics Thought:?Wine?Advocate?91 Points
Wow!??Here is a Silver Oak?Cabernet that even my Aunt Martha can enjoy.? Aromas of blackberry jam greet your nose while the first sip offers up?a rich, ripe,?full-bodied palate with gobs of oozingly sweet blackberry fruit that completely mask the sticky but?firm tannins.? This has a long life ahead of it the cellar provided you can keep Aunt Martha away from it.?
What We Thought:?What a concept...a truly fine Napa Cabernet that?you won't have to develop a taste for. Now, people will be able to go Napa Cabernet straight from White Zinfandel.? This is real fruit bomb, I wasn't sure whether to drink it or spread over cream cheese on a bagel.? Maybe we'll do both!
?
New Arrival
On our trip to Florida last month, Linda and I discovered Sanibel Tropical Wines.?They have a tasting room on Sanibel Island to showcase their award winning citrus and berry wines.? And, there is a Indiana connection...they have received no less than 85 medals and awards from the Indiana State Fair Wine Competitions.? You have to try these?wines to believe them...
Florida Banana Wine, Central Florida? $20??
Gold Medal Indiana State Fair 2008
Made 100% from bananas, this is THE wine for banana lovers! Absolutely tremendous with scallops, Tilapia and pork loin.?
Hot Sun Spicy Tomato Wine, Central Florida? $19?
Silver Medal 2003 Indiana State Fair
?A very smooth dry white wine with a slight tomato taste and a hint of peppers. Feel the warmth...a delightful surprise. Serve with crackers & cheese, nachos, enchiladas, oysters, salads and bread. Use in cooking for a gourmet touch.
Cocoa Beach Semi-Sweet Orange & Chocolate Wine,?Central Florida? $19
Bronze Medal Winner Indiana State Fair
For the "chocoholic" in all of us. A blend of semi-sweet orange wine and rich chocolate. The result? An explosion of chocolate flavor in one of our most popular wines. Perfect after dinner cordial.
The Wine Guy
Pick of the Week
A New Vintage
Opus Two
Affordable?Napa Cabernet
Wine Spectator 93 Points $14.99!?
?
April?1st?marks the second release of?the exciting new?Opus Two!? Mondavi has done it again... partnering with Charles Shaw to produce an affordable alternative to their flagship? wine, Opus One, the joint?venture with Rothschild.? Charles Shaw Wineries, well known for their?affordable wines,?marketed?exclusively by Trader Joe's, is supplying the juice for this exciting new wine to be made at the Opus facility in Napa Valley.??
Outfitting retired Exxon super tankers with rubber bladders, ?the Charles Shaw growers have supplied fruit grown in the Zhejiang province of China.??And, Opus?One's?skilled winemakers have used it to create what James Laube of Wine Spectator calls "the most exciting thing to happen?in Napa Valley in years."? Scoring the first vintage 93 points, he went on to say "It's about time someone did something about the high price of Cabernet in California."? Priced at only $14.99 for a 3 liter box, it may be the wave of the future.? Try some and see for yourself...
Opus Two Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 Napa Valley / Zhejiang China $17 3 Liter Box
We Bought a Bunch $14.99
What the Wine Critics Thought:?Wine?Spectator 93 points
It's simply amazing what Opus has done with the new Cabernet flavor additives developed by? Arthur Daniels Midland.? ?I always?knew?that if they could make fast food hamburgers taste like they were grilled and French fries taste like they were fried in lard, they could make Concord grapes taste like fine Cabernet.???The wine is rich and intense, with a concentrated mix of?currant and?blackberry fruit that have only the lightest?artificial or chemical?overtones.??The dusty herb and cedary?flavors provided by the oak dust additives seem indistinguishable from new French oak.?This is a?good choice for short or very near term cellaring. Best from March 2009 through January 2009. J.L.
To order, just use reply to sender" to return this form or just give me a call.
Case discounts are 10% on full cases of the same wine and 7% on mixed cases. Additional case discounts do not apply to items with .99 sale price endings. However sale wines do combine with other wines to make non sale wines eligible for case discounts.
As always, the Wine Guy Guarantee applies. If you buy a case of wine and don't like it, just return the other bottles for an exchange or refund.
This newsletter is transmitted in HTML (rich text). This language supports fonts and text effects not possible with simple text. If your Internet provider is having trouble with this language, please use the link provided at the top or bottom of the newsletter to access the online version. This list is never used for any other purpose than our newsletter and occasional attempts to sell stuff to you. We will never give or sell your email address to anyone. Our newsletters are only sent to those who have requested them. If you no longer wish to receive this publication, please use the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the newsletter of send an email asking to be removed.
Visit us at The Wine Guy Web Site
Searchable archives of all the wine reviews and recipes appearing in the newsletter
Monthly wine features like Wine Guy "Best Buy" Sampler Cases
The Wine Guy "Top 50" in-stock wines
A complete catalogue of our Gift Basket collection
Links to other great food and wine web sites
An "Ask the Wine Guy" email function for your questions or orders
www.grapevinecottage.com
Wine Guy Recipe Exchange & Wine Review Society Newsletter Issue #485
Vol.?10 #13
?
The Wine Guy at
The Grapevine Cottage, 61 South Main Street
Zionsville, Indiana 46077 (317) 733-1010
Monday through Friday 10 - 7, Saturday 9 - 6
thewineguy(a)grapevinecottage.com
April 1, 2009
Happy April Fool's Day!!
Click here to forward this mailing with your personal message.
This email was sent to: efreeburg(a)aol.com
This email was sent by: The Grapevine Cottage
61 South Main Street, Zionsville, IN 46077
Click here to leave this mailing list.
Click here to view our privacy policy.
